Lose Yourself
Rebecca Solnit was not necessarily writing a poem to raise awareness about environmental sustainability, yet I found myself connecting with this in more ways than one. First, it is written in such a way that draws your attention to what beauty the earth holds. Secondly, the message was about losing one's self in such beauty.
The American Apparel and Footwear Association has set a list of restricted substances to promote and enhance it's member's competitiveness, productivity, and profitability in global marketing. Everything from dyes, metals, pesticides, and leather. One restriction for leather is lead. The US federal lead substrate restrictions for children's products. Such mineral from the lithosphere is hazardous not only to people, but to the environment.
Removing the lead from the ground does not directly go to our everyday products. More than half pollutes water supplies, froests, and so much more. Considering what Thorpe says in ' Designers Atlas of Sustainability' about our every day materials we use from the atmosphere, biosphere, lithosphere, and hydrosphere; what would finally appease humanity from continuing to take steps back? Is our hair spray which we use aerosol cans for worth polluting the air we breath? Or jeopardizing our water supply which we depend on for our livelihood be pumped with toxic chemicals? Every action has a reaction. The blue mentioned in the poetry above would seize to exist.
The idea of getting lost from our regular routines isn't something we are accustomed to do. As we have seen this week in the video's and in the reading 'Cradle to Cradle' Business organizations are making progress in the right direction. Biological metabolisms as in the biosphere and technosphere cycles, although are better off kept separated due to the fact that 'biosphere' is nature and 'technosphere' is of industry. These still need to co-exist. Without one, the other could not achieve a complete fix to our damage.
The idea of 'feeding' the earth means returning or replenishing the earth with nutrients which help for future use. What is lacking is having top soils breathe and take time to recover from mass crops. Fertilizing the land with manure and decomposition does not completely fix our erosion issue. The rate of which human species are using the earth for it's minerals at a rate which the earth cannot meet the demands of.
When we make a purchase in a store, the goods aren't sold then
distributed to the customer as is. Some sort of packaging confines the
good for either aesthetic reasoning or protection while traveling. The
packaging is then the first part of the process disposed of. The idea
Cradle to Cradle has is to design packaging that breaks down more easily
in nature. Then, the good which we purchase is used for a duration of
time. Eventually the consumer wants to upgrade. Instead of tossing that
item into a trash bin, consumers can have the option to take it to
wherever they bought the item and recycle it. The concept of customer
working with companies is simply genius.
Would a person be willing to do the research and seek out companies who are working for the cause or would a person rely on these major companies to resolve the issues at hand? Yes, given the impact of companies trying to you Down-cycle (changing a product to something new which is still worth less) and Up-cycle (changing a product to something worth the same or more); they should not be the only ones to be help responsible. Losing oneself in what we consider 'normal' and contributing to the change. Lose yourself. Lose your thought of thinking items only should be bought, used, and then disposed of.
"The appeal of eco-efficiency lies in its measurable, rational approach.." according to the Designers Atlas of Sustainability. A few ways individuals can start to lose oneself is by reusing and recycling. Although different, both add a step in the life of goods. Collecting, Separating, and reprocessing, aka recycling, takes old materials and makes something like-new. Using a good from the same context for a different purpose without separating and without processing it are reusing goods.Seeking out companies who are working for progress of sustainability instead of purchasing from companies who turn the other cheek on the issue would be another way to help with the sustainable movement. Hitting those companies wallets would get their attention and hopefully start their own sustainable venture.
A few websites that I've looked into about change is treehugger.com. A challenge was set forth to upcycle old dresses. Each dress was under a dollar, and all it took was simple sewing skills. The challenge was one dress a for 365 days. Here are a few examples:
check out and follow her blog for tips, trades, and to lose yourself from the retail world.
http://www.newdressaday.com/
Hi, Nic;
ReplyDeleteI love this poem and its relationship to your blog discussion. Can you make it more explicit in your blog what course materials you are using and what has come from your research activities. Otherwise, you have demonstrated a strong understanding of the course's topics. Have a good weekend!
Yes ma'am! I will update asap. Thank you for the feedback. :)
ReplyDeleteThe poem was really pretty and I can make the same connection with what we are learning. I really like how you mentioned that it is not solely the responsibility of the companies to move towards being sustainable it must also come from consumers. What consumers don't realize is that they are making the desicion to give their money to the companies which are contributing to these environmental problems such as with the lithosphere being distributed to the other spheres. We have the option of where and what to purchase all we have to do is choose a better life for ourselves.
ReplyDeleteRight? The thought of taking something one already owns and change it into something trendy takes on a whole concept of 'vintage'. In the apparel industry, we take patterns, colors, and styles and recycle them with a new twist. Why pay for it again when you can do it yourself?
DeleteExactly! Consumers are the ones funding for these damaging products! Without the consumer demand companies would go out of business. My theory is that consumers have brand loyalty towards the companies that have been producing for years. Some of these companies have been around for decades and since sustainability was not a big deal back then, their production practices have stayed the same. However, there are some companies that have grasped the importance of sustainability and have altered their products. For example Tide, introducing Tide Coldwater HE (High Efficiency) detergent that uses up to 78% less energy and helps conserves money- and the planet.
DeleteI have since switched to Tide Coldwater since it was introduced last year! I'm a fan. I think that even the bottle itself is a product which breaks down faster than it's competitors. All these steps working to conserve the four layers of the ecosphere. In relation to Cradle to Cradle, the idea itself mocks natures cycle.
DeleteYes! The apparel industry needs to start designing according to this concept! It is embarrassing that the waste of a product can last longer than the time the actual product is used.
DeleteI am living in California this summer and my first grocery trip was an eye opener... stores like Wal-Mart, Whole foods and Trader Joe's, along with many other stores (not necessarily produce stores) have stopped giving their customers plastic bags!
How awesome is this!
That's great! Just the cutback of products like this cuts back on so much waste. Hopefully this will catch on soon in the U.S. and across the world.
DeleteSmall steps. :)
DeleteHey Nic!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ashley on liking the poem and the choice of picking companies that are environmentally friendly. In order for the market to change and encourage environmental movements the public needs to be aware of the advantages. Businesses should also understand the economic and ethical advantages to being environmentally friendly. If consumers demand fair trade products, corporations will must adhere to there demands. I'm curious of what particular businesses you researched that upheld these ideals?
http://www.newdressaday.com/
DeleteCheck her out. I think you'll love how she adopted upcycling.
Her clothes are amazing!! I wish I was talented enough to make a hideous dress into a beautiful wrap. These are the people that should be running a business because they understand the importance of innovation and have enough creativity to implement it.
Delete"Lose your thought of thinking items only should be bought, used, and then disposed of - I could not agree with you more!
ReplyDeleteWe must change our wasteful mind-set to one that is more resourceful and efficient.
This weekend I bought a new skirt and as I was removing the tags I noticed that the tag with the brand name was made out of fabric and unless I found it an efficient purpose, it was going in the trash. This made me wonder about all the other tags in the thousand of skirts produced by the company and many other companies. Are they really necessary? All they do is give clothing a temporary aesthetic look (while on the hanger at the store) and create waste. Waste of recourses, because combined together these insignificant tags can add up to thousands of fabric lb.
I agree with you, "the packaging is then the first part of the process disposed of" and like C2C suggests, "we need to design packaging that breaks down more easily in nature". With the C2C approach we will be able to dispose of tags and other packaging materials with our mind at ease.
Ah I know! When I worked at the Buckle a few years ago, we would receive freight into the store. EVERY individual garment was wrapped in it's own plastic protector. All we did as employees was throw it away. Looking back now, If companies started using re-usable packaging instead of these one time use ones and how effective would it be to help with sustainability by doing so. It would even cut costs!
DeleteThat is such a wast of material, why are companies doing this? Im sure that if they had reusable packaging it would cut down their costs and increase their revenue! (isn't that what every company wants). Unless they are accounting that plastic wrap into the garment's price, and we are the ones paying for it.
DeleteThat's the thing, though. If companies could re-use ways of shipping instead of using cardboard boxes and plastic wraps for garments, retail prices wouldn't have to include those small fees.
DeleteI'm so into this class and just reading about Holism and how it takes any specifics and views it as a whole. From designers to consumers alike is part of the system and could all do it's part to contribute to it.
The showroom that I am currently interning for saves all of the shipment boxes they receive! And at first I was puzzled by the amount of empty boxes in the back, but then I figured out that they were reusing them!
DeleteI agree with you, everything is a piece of the puzzle! We all live under the same sky and anything that happens in the environment affects everyone from the designers to the consumers.
I love the poem! You can make a lot of connections between the poem and what we are learning about, it allows you too look at our material in a different way. I agree with you that not only the companies but the consumers must also help bring the practice of upcycling to the mainstream as well. Imagine if all or even 50% of apparel companies practiced upcycling how much of a difference it would do! I love that you put pictures up of a simple way you can practice upcycling on your own.
ReplyDeleteThanks- It was intrigued by it myself and plan on doing the same. I know I have a closet full of tee-shirts that could be reused or pants into shorts.
DeleteAnother cool concept I've just heard of is clothed diaper swaps. It's sounds bizarre and borderline gross, but it's helping the ecosystem become more sustainable.
Thanks for mentioning the dippers because I had never thought about the huge waste that creates on a daily basis. Babies like to eat, sleep and poop! hahaha
Deletehaha,
DeleteI know! It's sort of cool what patterns and designs that they come in. AND think of how many people you know who are having babies!
I love that you look at these life alterations as "getting lost." It's not a secret that most of us aren't fond of change, especially when it requires us to make such large changes in our life as a whole. I did enjoy the poem, and love the visuals demonstrating a reconstruction of apparel items. The possibilities are endless!
ReplyDeletevery true! The thought of upcycling is so easy and affordable!
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